Hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose

ABSTRACT

A hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose comprising two seamless hose sewn together wherein in place of a welt, there is a compressive, stretch fabric integrally knit with the hose to form a compressive girdle portion. The girdle portion of each hose has front and rear panels which are knit so as to provide more fabric in the rear panel than in the front panel with the front panel averaging less stitch loops per course than the rear panel for the same number of wales in the course. Fewer stitches per course in the front panel than the rear panel are provided by knitting stitch loops only in spaced-apart wales in the front panel for at least some of the courses and floating the yarn in these courses between the spaced-apart wales.

United States Patent Burleson et a1.

[451 Mar. 28, 1972 [54] HOSIERY-GIRDLE-TYPE PANTYHOSE [72] Inventors:Aaron Burleson, Burlington, N.C.; Vaughn 11. Butler, Harriman, Tenn.

[73] Assignee: Burlington Industries, Inc., Greensboro,

221 Filed: June 26, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 836,997

[51] lnt.Cl. ,.A41b9/02 {58] FieldofSearch ..66/171, 172 E, 175, 176,178, 66/177 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,323,855 7/1943Smith ..66/172 2,799,151 7/1957 Elder et a1. ..66/172 2,337,211 12/1943St. Pierre ..66/172 3,413,824 12/1968 Kuney ..66/177 3,479,844 11/1969Silvain.... ....66/l76 2,102,369 12/1937 Marte1.... ....66/l72 2,220,80311/1940 Lesher.... ....66/172 2,276,045 3/1942 Kattermann ..66/176Morris et al. ..66/172 Primary Examiner-Ronald F eldbaumAttorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT A hosiery-girdle-typepantyhose comprising two seamless hose sewn together wherein in place ofa welt, there is a compressive, stretch fabric integrally knit with thehose to form a compressive girdle portion. The girdle portion of eachhose has front and rearpanels which are knit so as to provide morefabric in the rear panel than in the front panel with the front panelaveraging less stitch loops per course than the rear panel for the samenumber of wales in the course. Fewer stitches per course in the frontpanel than the rear panel are provided by knitting stitch loops only inspaced-apart wales in the front panel for at least some of the coursesand floating the yarn in these courses between the spaced-apart wales.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 3'2 3c ii, ftlli? iii 21i fijaz/ytliitlii aitiluritlaiifliiitl PhTENTEnmRzsmz 3,651,670

INVENTORS 14.6 /90 EVA? 1. 30

VQUG/WV/[UTAE/CF HOSIERY-GIRDLE-TYPE PANTYHOSE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to pantyhose and, in particular, tohosiery-girdle-type pantyhose which provides more fabric or stretch inthe backside panels of the girdle portion and the method of making suchpantyhose.

With the advent of higher hemlines and miniskirts, the demand forpantyhose has increased because of the objections to the use of garters.This, in turn, has caused the need for a combination girdleand hose-typepantyhose. The attempt to solve this problem by merely forming pantyhosefrom two seamless hose wherein the panty portion is simply made fromordinary stocking welts has not proved satisfactory.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide ahosiery-girdle-type pantyhose which consists of two seamless hose sewntogether wherein in place of a welt there is a compressive, stretchfabric integrally knit with the hose.

It is a further object to form a hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose withfront and rear panels that are knit in such a manner that the rearpanels provide more fabric or stretch to conform to the buttocks of thewearer.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a girdle-typepantyhose wherein the additional fabric in the rear panels of the girdleportion is provided through continuous knitting, without the need forcutting the hose and sewing in additional panels, so as to produce apantyhose of the above character at reduced cost.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide pantyhose ofthe above character wherein the front panels have minimum verticalstretch and maximum horizontal stretch, while the rear panels areprovided with more fabric for the same amount of yarn thereby givingmore vertical stretch while not reducing the horizontal stretch verygreatly.

A preferred form of the invention comprises two seamless hose whereinupper portions of the hose are formed from integrally knit compressive,stretch fabric rather than the usual hose welt. The compressive, stretchfabric portion of each hose is cut along a vertical line that extendsdown from the upper edge of the hose and separates front and rear panelsof the hose. Pairs of hose are then joined directly together by sewnseams extending along the edges formed by the cuts in the upper regionsof the girdle portion and indirectly together in the crotch region by adiamond-shaped crotch panel which is inserted between the edges.

The compressive, stretch fabric of the hose is formed with front andrear panels that are knit so as to provide minimum vertical stretch andmaximum horizontal stretch for the front panel while at the same time,the rear panel is knit so as to provide both a vertical and a horizontalstretch by reason of stitch construction wherein, on the average, thereare a greater number of stitch loops in the rear panel than the frontpanel.

In the preferred form of the invention, the front panels of the hose areformed with alternative courses knit in regular jersey stitching whileintermediate courses have stitch loops only in every fourth wale, theyarn being floated in the three wales intermediate every fourth wale. Inthe rear panels of the courses all or at least a greater number of thecourses are knit with a regular jersey stitch without the yarn beingfloated for certain selected wales in the courses so as to form morefabric in the rear panels than the front panels for the same number ofcourses.

The girdle portions of the hose are preferably made on a conventionalmulti-feed circular knitting machine utilizing a first type of yarn forthe alternative courses mentioned above and a second type of yarn forthe intermediate courses. The first type of yarn can be any conventionalstretch type yarn. Typically, suitable yarns which can be used forthefirst yarn comprise the synthetic linear thermoplastic polyamides andlike polymers such as nylon with one such yarn being commerciallyidentified as Superloft. The second yarn is preferably an elastomericyarn such as a non-foam elastomeric polyurethane yarn one such yarnbeing commercially identified as Spandex" which is available from theFirestone Tire and Rubber Company. The elastomeric polyurethane yarnsare preferably covered or wrapped with nylon or the like so thatessentially uniform coloring is obtained after the dyeing of the fabric.

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will becomebetter understood and further objects and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the front panel of the girdleportion of the hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose of the present inventionillustrating a preferred knit for the front panels;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the back panel of the girdleportion of the hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose illustrating the preferredknit; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of an alternative form of the knit whichcan be utilized in the present invention for the girdle portion of agirdle-type pantyhose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the figures and,in particular, to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred form of thehosiery-girdle-type pantyhose of the present invention is shown which isgenerally designated by reference numeral 20. The hosiery-girdle-typepantyhose comprises two seamless hose 22 and a diamond-shaped crotchpanel 24. The upper portions of each hose 22, which form the compressivegirdle portion 30 of the hosiery-girdle-type pantyhose, are made up offront and rear stretch fabric panels 26, 28 that are integrally knitwith the hose.

To form the girdle portion 30 of each pantyhose, the upper 7 portions ofa pair of hose are slit longitudinally from their upper edges along theinner junctures of the panels 26, 28. The two hose are then joineddirectly together along the edges formed by the slit except in thecrotch area. In the crotch, the two hose are indirectly joined by thediamond-shaped crotch panel 24 with the edges formed by the slits in thehose being sewn to the crotch panel 24 rather than to the other seamlesshose. The use of the crotch panel or insert 24 is desirable in that itrelieves undue stresses in this particular area of the garment and addsto the comfort of the wearer.

In the preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, it hasbeen found desirable to fabricate the girdle portions of thehosiery-girdle-type pantyhose from a stretch nylon yarn, such asSuperloft or some other suitable stretch synthetic yarn and anelastomeric polyurethane yarn, such as Spandex, a yarn commerciallyavailable from Firestone Tire & Rubber Company or other suitablesynthetic elastomer yarns. The elastomeric yarns are preferably coveredwith nylon fiber or the like. The preferred yarns are two-thirtiethsdenier Superloft nylon and denier double covered Spandex. The small,diamond-shaped crotch panel is also preferably made from the same yarnsas the rest of the girdle portion 30 on a seamless machine.

The front and rear panels 26, 28 are knit in such a manner that the rearpanels provide more fabric and vertical stretch than the front panels.This is accomplished by knitting the front panels and rear panels sothat, for a given number of wales, more stitch loops per course areprovided in the rear panels than in the front panels. The relativeamount of fabric in the front and rear panels can be regulated byvarying the ratio of the stitch loops per course per given number ofwales of the rear panels to the front panels. Large ratios can be usedwhen much greater amounts of fabric are required in the rear panels ascompared to the front panels and small ratios can be used when it isdesired to have the amount of fabric in the front and rear panelssubstantially equal. Thus, the relative amount of fabric in the frontand rear panels can be selected to meet the requirements of a particularsize pantyhose.

A preferred knit for the front and rear panels of girdle-type pantyhoseis shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein the ratio of stitches per course pergiven number of wales of the rear panel to the front panel is eight tofive.

As best shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3 (wherein the stitch loops inwales w, are shown elongated relative to the loops in wales w w w forthe purpose of two-dimensional illustration) the front panels 26 areformed with nylon yarn 34 in the alternate odd numbered courses 7a, lb,3b, 5b, 7b, 10, 3c and elastomeric polyurethane yarn 36 in intermediateeven numbered courses 8a, 2b, 4b, 6b, 8b, 2c. The courses with the nylonyarn 34 are formed with conventional jersey stitching in all of thewales (w through W4). However, the courses formed with the elastomericpolyurethane yarn 36 have stitch loops only in every fourth wale w orW4, depending on the course, with the yarn being floated across theintermediate wales whereby the intermediate even numbered courses in thefront panels only have one fourth as many stitch loops as the alternateodd numbered courses in the front panels.

The knit of rear panels 28 is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown, both theodd numbered courses knit with nylon yarn 34 and the even numberedcourses knit with elastomeric polyurethane yarn 36, are formed withregular jersey stitching in all of the wales. Consequently, on theaverage, more fabric per course is formed in the rear panel than thefront panel with the rear panel having eight stitch loops for every fivestitch loops in the front panels. Thus, a girdle-type pantyhose of thepresent invention having 1,250 loops in 10 courses in the front panelwould have 2,000 loops in the rear panel for the same number of coursesor on a conventional circular knitting with two feed, there would be 1%.courses per revolution in the front panel versus two courses perrevolution in the rear panel.

With the above construction, in the front panels there is minimumvertical stretch and maximum horizontal stretch and compressive powerdue to the fewer number of vertical stitch loops which are replaced byfloated horizontally extending portions of yarn. In the rear panelsthere is more fabric and more vertical stretch to accommodate thebuttocks of the wearer.

From the above, it is obvious that more fabric can be formed in thefront panels by floating the yarn for fewer wales in the intermediatecourses or by forming some of the intermediate courses with a regularjersey stitch in all wales. Conversely, the amount of fabric in the rearpanels can be reduced by floating yarn in some of the rear panelportions of the courses.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, after the completion of a series of eightcourses, the wales in which the stitch loops of elastomeric polyurethaneyarn 36 are formed are stepped over to the wales midway between thewales in which the loops were knit for the previous knitting courses(from wales W2 in series a to w, in series b and from wales w, in seriesb back to w: in series c). Due to the elasticity of the yarn and thegreater number of stitch loops in wales w and w for successive series ofcourses, the fabric in the front panel becomes puckered when relaxed.

While the rear panel is shown (FIG. 4) made up completely of regularjersey stitching for the purpose of illustrating the invention, a puckerpattern can also be formed in the rear panel. This, of course, willresult in less fabric for the rear panel when compared to the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4. However, the formation of the rear panel in thismanner can be desirable to improve the appearance of the pantyhose andto increase the compressive force of the stretch fabric in the rearpanels.

In one preferred construction, the rear panel is formed with eightcourses of jersey stitch with nylon yarn 34 in alternate courses andelastomeric polyurethane yarn 36 in intervening courses. After a seriesof eight courses, the next two courses are knit in the same manner asthe courses in the front panel with the elastomeric polyurethane yarn 36being floated a certain selected number of wales so as to form a puckerpattern in the rear panels. Of course, the number of wales the yarn isfloated between stitch loops and the number of courses knit in thismanner can be selected according to the requirements of the particularfabric. For example, instead of knitting only two courses in the samemanner as the front panel, four, six, eight or more courses can be knitthis way to obtain the desired effect.

By way of example, the girdle portion of the girdle-type pantyhose ofthe present invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, is knit on aconventional multi-feed circular knitting machine. When using such amachine, two courses can be knit per revolution. The nylon yarn in boththe front and rear panels is knit in every needle in a regular or jerseystitch. However, the elastomeric polyurethane yarn although knit inevery needle in a regular jersey stitch in the rear panel, is laid in onthree needles and knit every fourth needle in the front panel. Aftereight courses, the knitting machine is programmed so that theelastomeric polyurethane yarn is knit on the needles midway between theneedles on which the yarn was previously being knit. By stepping overthe alternate needles in every eighth course (from the needles knittingwales W2 to the needles knitting wales w and back) the desired puckerpattern illustrated in FIG. 3 is produced.

Turning now to FIG. 5, which is a fragmentary illustration of a portionof the front or rear panel of girdle-type pantyhose, another embodimentof the invention is shown wherein nylon yarn 134 is present in allcourses 101, 102, 103 etc., and knit on all the needles in aconventional jersey stitch. Elastomeric polyurethane yarn 136 isprovided in alternating courses 102 and is knit on one needle and laidin on the next three needles. While maximum compressive force isobtained from the construction, such as illustrated in FIG. 5, theconstruction lacks one advantage of the previous embodiment from a coststandpoint since the laying in of the elastomeric polyurethane yarn 136in the rear panels reduces the available amount of fabric. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, the second embodiment has the elastomericpolyurethane yarn 136 knit in alternate courses with the yarn 136 beingknit in wales w., and floated in wales w,, w w It is to be understoodthat additional courses of nylon yarn 134 could be interposed betweenthe courses including the elastomeric polyurethane yarn 136 and that theyarn 136 can be floated for a greater or lesser number of wales ifdesired or necessitated by the particular fabric being produced.

While the preferred form of the invention has been shown and describedit is to be understood that all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A component of a pantyhose garment having a girdle portion integrallyknitted therein, said component comprising:

a lower stocking portion shaped to fit a leg of a wearer,

an upper elastic portion comprising essentially half of said girdleportion in a finished garment and including courses of an elastomericyarn integrally knit therein,

said upper elastic portion comprising:

a front panel comprising adjacent sets of predetermined numbers ofcourses and also comprising approximately one half the circumference ofsaid component and having alternate courses of yarn knitted in everywale with intervening courses of elastomeric yarn knitted at preselectedwales which occur at regular intervals with said elastomeric yarn beingfloated over intervening wales between said preselected wales andwherein said preselected wales are staggered between said adjacent setsof courses; said preselected wales being of a number to result in afirst average number of stitch loops in said intervening courses ofelastomeric yarn, and

a back panel comprising the other half circumference of said componentand having alternate courses of hose fabric knitted in every wale withintervening courses of elastomeric yarn knitted at preselected wales,which courses are continuations of the corresponding courses in saidfront panel but wherein the number of said preselected wales for theback panel is higher than that for the front panel to result in a secondaverage number of stitch loops in said intervening courses ofelastomeric yarn, said second number being substantially greater thansaid first number to provide more fabric for accommodating the buttocksof a wearer in said back panel. 2. A girdle-pantyhose garment formedfrom two components as in claim 1 and comprising:

a first one of said components providing a first front panel and a firstback panel. a second one of said components providing a second frontpanel and a second back panel, said first front and back panels beingcut apart and separated along at least a portion of the upper elasticportion of said first component, said second front and back panels beingcut apart and separated along at least a portion of the upper elasticportion of said second component, said first and second front panelsbeing joined together along at least part of said separated portions toform a complete front panel for said girdle portion of said pantyhosegarment, and

said first and second back panels being joined together along at leastpart of said separated portions to form a complete back panel for saidgirdle portion of said pantyhose garment.

3. A component for a girdle-pantyhose garment as in claim 1 wherein:

said preselected wales comprise every fourth wale in the front panelwith elastomeric yarn being floated over the intervening three walestherebetween,

said predetermined numbers of courses being eight whereby thepreselected wales are shifted in position by two wales after everyeighth course to result in a staggered configuration of knittedelastomeric yarn wales, and

said preselected wales in the back panel comprise every wale in the backpanel to result in every wale of elastomeric yarn being knitted tothereby provide a maximum amount of stretch fabric in the back panel toaccommodate the buttocks of a wearer.

1. A component of a pantyhose garment having a girdle portion integrallyknitted therein, said component comprising: a lower stocking portionshaped to fit a leg of a wearer, an upper elastic portion comprisingessentially half of said girdle portion in a finished garment andincluding courses of an elastomeric yarn integrally knit therein, saidupper elastic portion comprising: a front panel comprising adjacent setsof predetermined numbers of courses and also comprising approximatelyone half the circumference of said component and having alternatecourses of yarn knitted in every wale with intervening courses ofelastomeric yarn knitted at preselected wales which occur at regularintervals with said elastomeric yarn being floated over interveningwales between said preselected wales and wherein said preselected walesare staggered between said adjacent sets of courses; said preselectedwales being of a number to result in a first average number of stitchloops in said intervening courses of elastomeric yarn, and a back panelcomprising the other half circumference of said component and havingalternate courses of hose fabric knitted in every wale with interveningcourses of elastomeric yarn knitted at preselected wales, which coursesare continuations of the corresponding courses in said front panel butwherein the number of said preselected wales for the back panel ishigher than that for the front panel to result in a second averagenumber of stitch loops in said intervening courses of elastomeric yarn,said second number being substantially greater than said first number toprovide more fabric for accommodating the buttocks of a wearer in saidback panel.
 2. A girdle-pantyhose garment formed from two components asin claim 1 and comprising: a first one of said components providing afirst front panel and a first back panel. a second one of saidcomponents providing a second front panel and a second back panel, saidfirst front and back panels being cut apart and separated along at leasta portion of the upper elastic portion of said first component, saidsecond front and back panels being cut apart and separated along atleast a portion of the upper elastic portion of said second component,said first and second front panels being joined together along at leastpart of said separated portions to form a complete front panel for saidgirdle portion of said pantyhose garment, and said first and second backpanels being joined together along at least part of said separatedportions to form a comPlete back panel for said girdle portion of saidpantyhose garment.
 3. A component for a girdle-pantyhose garment as inclaim 1 wherein: said preselected wales comprise every fourth wale inthe front panel with elastomeric yarn being floated over the interveningthree wales therebetween, said predetermined numbers of courses beingeight whereby the preselected wales are shifted in position by two walesafter every eighth course to result in a staggered configuration ofknitted elastomeric yarn wales, and said preselected wales in the backpanel comprise every wale in the back panel to result in every wale ofelastomeric yarn being knitted to thereby provide a maximum amount ofstretch fabric in the back panel to accommodate the buttocks of awearer.